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Desilu Studios has announced it's going to bring V The Movie, based on the classic 1983 miniseries, to theaters in a big-budget film version that will be written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, creator of the original show.

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The two-part miniseries aired on NBC in 1983 and chronicled an invasion of Earth by vicious reptilian aliens who disguised themselves as friendly humanoids, triggering a human resistance movement. A metaphor for revolution against a fascist government, V was hugely popular with audiences, spawning a 1984 sequel, V: The Final Battle, a short-lived 1985 show called V: The Series, and a 2009 reboot that lasted for two seasons on ABC.

Johnson left V: The Final Battle during production due to creative differences with NBC and was not involved with the subsequent shows. He focused instead on writing a novel (V: The Second Generation), creating the Alien Nation TV series (and its spinoff TV movies) and developing V as a feature film.

Now it seems as if the latter might finally happen. Johnson said in a statement:

"We are delighted to team up with Desilu to bring the timeless -- and timely -- story of resistance against tyranny into the 21st Century. V will be the first of a cinematic trilogy which will tell the full epic tale in the manner I always envisioned."

If the name Desilu rings a bell, that's because it was the studio -- owned at the time by legendary comedienne Lucille Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz -- that picked up Gene Roddenberry's pitch for a show called Star Trek in 1964, and produced the first two seasons of the original series before the company was absorbed by Gulf & Western and turned into Paramount Television in 1967.

While the Desilu TV library (including the original Star Trek) is now owned by CBS, the Desilu brand was acquired by businessman Charles B. Hensley and relaunched last year as a new studio, according to the company's publicist. V The Movie is the first project to be publicly announced.

Casting, production details, and a release date for V The Movie are all yet to be determined.